WA police arrest 38 Roe 8 protesters

Police have arrested 38 people including one man accused of assault as heated protests continue over the clearing of land at the Beeliar Wetlands as part of the Roe 8 highway extension.

Hundreds of people have been arrested in protests since December involving people locking themselves to machinery, knocking over fences and sitting naked in trees while legal appeals involving environmentalists and Aboriginals go on.

The protesters say the project involves bulldoze 400 year old trees, native wildlife and Aboriginal sacred sites in the Beeliar Wetlands.

Another 11 move-on notices were handed out and police intervened in 15 lock-ons.

Police arrested a man over an assault on a security guard working at the site, which they said was the third such allegation at the site.

The government signed contracts last year for the $450 million Roe 8, which is part of the larger Perth Freight Link that aims to better link Perth's industrial areas with Fremantle Port and get trucks off suburban roads.